Kevin Dineen — the only coach in franchise history to win a division championship — was let go Friday, a move that general manager Dale Tallon called ‘‘the first of many changes’’ that are coming to a franchise that finished at the bottom of the NHL last season and is off to one of the worst starts in the league this year.

Dineen, who was in his third season, was told of the move Friday morning. Florida lost to the Bruins, 4-1, at TD Garden Thursday night, the team’s seventh straight loss and 10th in its last 11 games.

Florida also fired assistant coaches Gord Murphy and Craig Ramsay, replacing them with former players Brian Skrudland and John Madden.

Peter Horachek was summoned from the team’s AHL affiliate in San Antonio to replace Dineen on an interim basis.

‘‘If players don’t respond to this, they won’t be Panthers for very long,’’ Tallon said.

Tallon said he’s been considering making a change ‘‘for a long time’’ and that the decision was not easy. Florida has only three wins in 16 games this season. Already this year, 11 teams have at least 10 wins.

The Panthers are 3-9-4 going into Saturday’s game at Ottawa.

‘‘It’s embarrassing,’’ Panthers forward Shawn Matthias said after the loss in Boston on Thursday night. ‘‘I can’t remember the last time we won. There are no positives right now.’’

Panthers owner Vinnie Viola, who bought the club in late September, wrote a letter to fans saying the change in direction was ‘‘absolutely necessary.’’

‘‘With 66 games remaining this season our expectations remain the same,’’ Viola wrote. ‘‘We expect a team that plays hard, that sacrifices for each other, that gives everything they have for our fans and supporters, and a team that wins hockey games.

“By the end of this season, we expect to be competing for a place in the Stanley Cup playoffs and we expect to have taken a significant step toward achieving the goals and objectives we have set for this franchise.’’

Dineen was 56-62-28 in parts of three seasons, leading the Panthers to the 2012 Southeast Division title and guiding the team into the playoffs for the first time since 2000.

Dineen comes from a storied hockey family — his father Bill Dineen played and coached in the NHL, and his brothers Gord and Peter also were NHL players. Kevin Dineen also played in the NHL, scoring 355 goals in parts of 19 seasons with the Hartford/Carolina franchise, Philadelphia, Ottawa, and Columbus. The Florida job was his first as an NHL head coach.

‘‘He’s been offered an opportunity to stay with our organization,’’ Tallon said.

That won’t be the case for some Florida players.

Tallon said he has been exploring trade possibilities, and that firing the coach is easier than firing 23 players.

The Panthers’ top goal scorer so far is Brad Boyes; his five goals are tied for 50th-most in the NHL so far this season. Tomas Fleischmann, the team leader in points with 11, was tied for 75th in the league scoring race entering Friday’s games.

Ex-Bruin Tim Thomas, the goaltender whose signing was Florida’s biggest offseason splash, has been dealing with injuries and ranks only 33d in goals-against average. And Florida’s five power-play goals are the league’s fewest.

‘‘Our better players have to start playing better or we will get better players,’’ Tallon said.

Tallon said Dineen worked hard, but that the coaching staff’s message was not getting through to players. And he blamed those in the locker room for that being the case.

The task of fixing Florida now falls to Horachek.

‘‘He’s a no-nonsense guy,’’ Tallon said.

The Oilers said it they a verbal agreement in place to sign goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to a one-year contract. Bryzgalov’s deal was contingent upon the completion of a Friday trade with the Calgary Flames that cleared defenseman Ladislav Smid’s $3.5 million cap hit off the books. The Flyers bought out of the final seven years of Bryzgalov’s $51 million, nine-year contract during the offseason and the 33-year-old Russian goalie attended training camp with the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers. Bryzgalov was 19-17-3 with a 2.79 goals-against average last season for the Flyers. In 425 games in 12 NHL seasons with Anaheim, Phoenix, and Philadelphia, he is 208-149-45 with a 2.55 GAA and 30 shutouts. To set up the signing, the Oilers sent Smid and goalie prospect Olivier Roy to the Flames for center Roman Horak and goalie prospect Laurent Brossoit.

Left wing Jason Chimera signed a $4 million, two-contract extension with the Washington Capitals. The 34-year-old forward has five goals and six assists in 16 games this season for the Capitals. He joined Washington in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets in December 2009.

The Edmonton Oilers traded defenseman Ladislav Smid and goalie prospect Olivier Roy to the Calgary Flames for center Roman Horak and goalie prospect Laurent Brossoit. Smid, 27, has 11 goals and 54 assists in 474 games, all with the Oilers.